Senior Cup Moments

The High School senior rugby team painted a red and black swath as they advanced across the pitch in the first moments of the Senior Cup fixture against Blackrock College, the supporters’ screams ringing in their ears.  The drum thundered like a battle cry, and so began the clash.  Each time they met was a rolling, scrambling scuffle of bodies. 

The frantic scrabble for purchase and then that moment, when the noise drowned away and a lone figure emerged hurtling across the grass. Nothing could stop him now as he weaved past the wall of bodies, ducking outstretched hands like tree limbs.  Elliot Walsh threw himself over the try line with the Blackrock boys still pounding at his heels, and the roar from the crowd shook the heavens.  All the concerts in the world couldn’t match the energy of The High School in that moment.  
For eighty minutes on that Friday afternoon, it felt like the ground was shaking with the pounding of feet, the thundering of frantic fists against the railings, the hoarse cries of supporters as the ball hurtled back and forth. No snapshot can capture the whipping frenzy of movement, those deafening waves of voices rolling back and forth in call and response.  The whole school filled the stands that day.  This time was special. After weeks of mounting excitement, hard-fought win after win, a slow ascent all bringing us closer to this.  When the crowd were quiet, it seemed even the birds took up the silence, and when we roared, the sky itself couldn’t hold us. 
First half faded to second, and new faces entered the fray. The team gave it their all and fought to the last minute.  When the final whistle blew, and the score was set, all that was left to greet them were the smiles and cheers of their friends pouring out from the stands.  Among the cheers and the hugs in those final moments, we all knew this was a day that would go down in High School history.
Luca Farrelly